scraping the sky
by cristina rosales
Summary: belle and zero fly an airplane. they face many problems, of course /for belle


a/n: this is probably the funnest thing i've written in a while. belle and zero are my new platonic otp

warning: probably some spag

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"I'm like 72% sure we're going the wrong way," Zero remarks. She's gripping the map with white hands, staring out at the vast expanse of water below them. Instinctively, she reaches down into her messenger bag and pulls out a pen and, in a few brushstrokes, their route is changed.

"Did you change the route _again_?" Belle asks from first class, her injured leg propped up on silk cushions. "You changed it at least 13 times!"

"Twelve," Zero corrects, not bothering to turn around.

Belle shrugs and peers out the window, shoulders tensing at the churning mass of water below. She's never liked the ocean. When she was twelve, it tried to drown her, and their relationship has never been the same since. Looking up, her eyebrows knit together in worry. "Zero, is the map upside down?"

"Ummm." Zero examines the map, pressing her face closer to it and surprise crosses her face. "I think it is."

"Zero!"

Cheeks hot, Zero flips the map around and frowns. "Ummm, apparently, we're supposed to be above mountains right now."

"This is what happened when you don't do your calc homework!" Belle scolds, reaching for her crutches.

"It's not my fault. It's hard, okay?"

"It's not _that_ hard."

"You're a nerd, though." Zero presses the button labeled AUTOPILOT and turns around in her seat to face Belle.

"I'm not a nerd!" Belle throws her hands up, frustration bubbling in her stomach.

"Nerd," Zero teases, and although she tries to hide it, a smile creeps on her face.

"You're a nerd." Belle stoops down to retrieve a package of generic Delta peanuts haphazardly thrown to the ground.

"Says the nerd." A silence settles between them, save for the hum of the powerful jets propelling them through the cerulean sky.

Belle tears open the peanut package and holds it out to Zero. "Want one, nerd?"

Rolling her eyes, Zero jogs to Belle's food offering, plucks five peanuts from the silver bag, and pops them into her mouth. Belle shifts in her seat, a smile plastered on her face from the small victory of calling Zero a nerd, her true form, without protest. The engines continue to buzz, and Zero settles into the seat her to Belle, nodding her head to its rhythmic song. Her eyelashes flutter down. _Just five minutes of sleep_ , she thinks, and in a blink, she's out cold.

Belle shakes her head and mutters, "This is what happens when you don't get enough sleep." And feeling mischievous, she meticulously yanks an orange silk pillow from her pile upholding her leg, raises her arm, and hurls it at Zero's sleeping figure with all her might.

It hits the target with a satisfying _thump_ , and Zero's head shoots up. "Forty-two!" She yells to no in a particular. "That's the answer."

Even with Belle's manicured hands covering her mouth, giggles still leak through. Soon the giggles morph into full-blown laughter, and Zero's cheeks heat up.

"You-" Zero starts, but Belle cuts her off.

"You're our pilot. You can't fall asleep."

"Ehhh," Zero says, rubbing her eyes, "you're a nerd. I'm positive you can steer an airplane."

Belle gestures to her cast-burdened leg, and Zero let's out an _oh yeah._

"Plus, that's no way to treat your elders. Just making 'em drive a plane because you're too tired too," Belle scolds, finger wagging like an old lady would do.

"Pfff, Belle you're older by one year-"

"-exactly."

Zero swallows another grin and rolls her eyes. "Okay, grandma, where to?"

Belle shrugs. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Jo said she had brownies at her and Lils' house. I'm hungry."

"Zero! You're dragging me out to the middle of no where for brownies?" Belle's hands take on a life of their own, gesturing wildly through the air. "How'd you even get the plane?"

Zero shrugs, popping a few more peanuts into her mouth. "Borrowed it from Iris."

"I don't want to know how she got it," Belle comments under her breath.

Zero chuckles at her comment. "Iris magic, probably."

"Well Iris magic better heal my leg." Belle points to her cast for extra measure.

"I don't think she heals, but I dunno. She is co-empress of the universe."

"And a darling too!'

"Belle, you think everyone's a darling."

"Mmmhhmm, except you because you don't like _Princess Bride_ ," Belle accuses, and Zero face-palms. "Don't you face-palm me, missy. That movie is honestly the best thing ever!"

"I don't see the hype."

"That's cause you don't have good taste-"

" _Eyewitness._ "

Belle sighs over-dramatically. "Yeah but that's-"

WARNING. WARNING. WARNING. An automated voice robotically says. Zero sprints to the cockpit, frantically searching for the cause of such warning. Belle, gripping the armrests and hauling herself up, hobbles to where Zero sits.

"What's wrong?" She asks, trying to peer over Zero's shoulder at the numerous black dials and switches that comprise the cockpit. A particular one flashes orange but several others are glowing green and red and even blue. Even for a nerd, she's overwhelmed; it's a lot to take in.

"Err…" Zero takes a big breath and wills her hands not to shake. "Low fuel."

Belle's eyes widen, and she sharply inhales. "Oh my… That means..." Biting her lip and clenching her shaking fists, she gazes out the window at the vast ocean below her. The waves seem tiny from below, but she knows they claw at the sky, white-tipped fingers crashing over anything below that can't stay afloat. Her leg throbs. She grips a black leather chain for balance.

"But," Zero begins, "Iris says she had a dream that there's an island some where here."

With such desperation, Belle forgets that it was only a dream and lets the spark of hope in her chest grow. She bites her lip harder, and her eyes scour the ocean below for a trace of the island. Next to her, Zero does the same. She ignores the cerulean waves beneath her and scans the horizon, praying that there's something out there. Her eyes land just east of the plane's nose, a faint outline, a rise above the tossing waves.

"There!" Belle shouts, pointing at the fuzzy outline. "Do you see it?"

Zero leans toward the window and squints. After a few seconds, she lets of a whoop of joy. "We're saved!" She screeches. "Buckle yourself in; we're got a rough ride."

Belle plops down in the copilot chair, the cool leather pressing against her skin, and smiles, even though her heart's pumping a mile a minute. She clicks her seat belt together and glances sideways at Zero. The girl's hands grip the steering wheel tightly, knuckles white, and her forehead creases in concentration. Belle grabs the headset from above and waits for Zero's instructions.

As if reading her mind, Zero says, "Flip that right switch over there. It's next to the three black knobs and green switch." Belle bites back her retort about Zero being a nerd because she can fly a plane and scans the controls. When she finds the one, she promptly switches it on.

Zero keeps asking her to flip switches and turn knobs, brow still creased in concentration and a light sheet of sweat covers her face. Belle watches the sky as the island nears closer. It has majestic mountains reaching up to the clouds, a wide plane filled with wild grasses, and rivers flowing through the dense underbrush. Trees scrape the sky, jungles grow like hair on a baby's head, and white-sand beaches stretch toward their dying plane. It would be peaceful if the automated voice didn't keep saying WARNING. WARNING. WARNING. every five minutes.

Zero pushes the steering-controller forward, and the plane dives like a swan. Belle lurches forward into the air, but her seat belt stops her from smashing the buttons and knobs before her. Zero mutters something under her breath but Belle can't make out what she said. As the island looms nearer, she closes her eyes and hopes for the best.

"Three… two.. one..." Zero counts and bam! the aircraft hits the large field. Belle bobs up and down in her seat as the plane skids forward. She feels Zero's feet pushing the breaks harder and harder. Then, by some miracle, they stop.

Zero's smile could rip her face in two, and Belle leans over to hug her. "You're so amazing, I don't even know how I can fite you."

"Maybe we should just cuddle, instead," Zero proposes, breathless after the rocky landing. Belle laughs and pulls her into a deeper hug, dragging her over the millions of buttons dividing the cockpit. _Hopefully Iris won't mind,_ she thinks.

"What now?" Zero asks. "How are we going to get off this island."

Belle shrugs. "I don't know, but I'm sure Iris will find a way. She _is_ co-empress of the universe."

fin

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a/n2: i love reviews _hint, hint_


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